
the recognition of Azazel as a deity, the sending of the goat was, as stated by
Nahmanides, a symbolic expression of the idea that the people's sins and their
evil consequences were to be sent back to the spirit of desolation and ruin, the
source of all impurity. The very fact that the two goats were presented before
YHwH [Jehovah] before the one was sacrificed and the other sent into the
wilderness, was proof that Azazel was not ranked with Yawn, but regarded
simply as the personification of wickedness in contrast with the righteous gov-
ernment of YHWEL"
5.
What was to be done with the Lord's goat? Verse 9.
6.
Where was the blood of this offering sprinkled? Verses 15, 18.
7.
What was accomplished by the sprinkling of the blood? From
what was the sanctuary cleansed? Verses 16, 19, 29, 30.
NOTE.—"The ministration of the earthly sanctuary consisted of two divi-
sions; the priests ministered daily in the holy place, while once a year the high
priest performed a special work of atonement in the most holy, for the cleans-
ing of the sanctuary. Day by day the repentant sinner brought his offering to
the door of the tabernacle, and placing his hand upon the victim's head, con-
fessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the innocent
sacrifice. The animal was then slain. 'Without shedding of blood,' says the
apostle, there is no remission of sin. 'The life of the flesh is in the blood.' The
broken law of God demanded the life of the transgressor. The blood, repre-
senting the forfeited life of the sinner, whose guilt the victim bore, was carried
by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which
was the ark containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this cere-
mony the sin was, through the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary.
In some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place; but the flesh was
then to be eaten by the priest, as Moses directed the sons of Aaron, saying,
`God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation.' Both cere-
monies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the penitent to the
sanctuary.
"Such was the work that went on, day by day, throughout the year. The
sins of Israel were thus transferred to the sanctuary, and a special work became
necessary for their removal. God commanded that an atonement be made for
each of the sacred apartments. 'He shall make an atonement for the holy place,
because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their trans-
gressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congre-
.
gation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.' An
atonement was also to be made for the altar, to "cleanse it, and hallow it from
the uncleanness of the children of Israel.'
"Once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, the priest entered the most
holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. The work there performed com-
pleted the yearly round of ministration."—"The
Great Controversy,"
pp. 418,
419.
8.
When the cleansing, or atoning, work within the sanctuary was
completed, and the priest came out of the sanctuary, what was to be
done with the scapegoat, which was still alive? Lev. 16:10, 20-22.
NorE.—"On the Day of Atonement the high priest, having taken an offer-
ing for the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood, and
sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, above the tables of the law. Thus the claims
' [19]